


You Probably Never Heard My Name

by biggest_disappointment_you_know



Series: And You Know This Man! [1]
Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Gender Identity, Trans!Sonny, discovering identity, no pare sigue sigue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:14:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8130076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biggest_disappointment_you_know/pseuds/biggest_disappointment_you_know
Summary: The first installment of a Trans!Sonny Series. How Sonny got his name.





	

The bell of the bodega rings as ten year old Sonya walks in. Her backpack is slung over one shoulder, her baseball cap twisted back.  
"Oye, Sonya. How was school?" Usnavi calls out as she walks behind the counter.  
No response. She looks at him, annoyed-- expecting him to catch his mistake. They wait a minute.  
"Wha... oh!" Light bulb. "Is it cause I said your name?"  
"Yep."  
"I don't know why you hate it so much. Sonya's a good name. It's normal. Heck, It's no Usnavi."  
"No it's not a good name. Usnavi’s a good name, it’s all special, it’s you. Sonya’s gross. Like something a princess or Bond girl would wear. Not me."  
"You mean like a dress? Then you're right, you'd never wear one. Always dressed in your chores for any occasion." He points to her cargo.  
"Haha," she mocked dryly, "Just avoid my name until I can find something I like."  
"Okay, okay. Let me start over," Usnavi sighed and corrects himself, "Oye, kid. How was school?"  
“That’s better. And it was alright. I don't know, mi panza been bugging me all day."  
"It's probably that crappy school lonche-"  
"Today was pizza. No way I was giving that up, even if it is a square."  
"I guess I wouldn't have gave it up either. Hey, do they still have that strawberry milk?"  
"Naw cuz. They took those away, 'cuz they were," air quotes, "'unhealthy'."  
"Wha-!"  
"Right! They were the best ones. Now the first ones to get lunch take all the chocolate, leaving us with the freakin' 2% or those nasty frozen juices. The ones you need shake like a Polaroid to get it tastin' right."  
"Oh god, those were so GROSS."  
The bell rings. Usnavi greets the customer. Sonya gets out her book from her backpack and opens to her page.  
So far she was only at the bodega for someone- Usnavi- to watch her until Nina got off of school. He usually took care of the customers himself, but every so often he'd leave her to ring up the customers while he was getting something from the back. He joked this was for her own good, improving her math skills with the simple addition and multiplication; she joked she would report him violating child labor laws. But mainly, Usnavi would handle the customers, Sonya believes he really likes hearing the small talk and chisme of the neighborhood. Meanwhile she is there to keep stock or entertain him during the lulls of the day.  
The bell rings over the soft hip hop music filling the silence of the story. She drowns out Usnavi's exchange and is absorbed in the page.  
"Hey kid... kid.. Sonya." Usnavi's voice cuts in.  
"What?"  
"You gotta move, kid." he says reaching over grabbing one of the Marlboros off that wall.  
She hears something of it being out of 20, here's their change and that they should have a nice day, then the bell.  
"Damn, you're really into that thing. What'cha reading?"  
"It's called Esperanza Rising. It's about Mexicans coming over to California during the Mexican Revolution. It's really messed up! They drained the pool after the mexicanos swam in it, like they’re dirty or something." She didn’t mean for her voice to crack on the final words, but they did. She tried to push down the rising anger but she already feels her cheeks burning and throat tightening.She flips her hat to the front, ready to cover her eyes.  
Usnavi is taken aback, unaware his comment would be getting this reaction. He puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Yeah I know it sucks. You're okay." He's not going to lie to her and say that stuff doesn't happen anymore. The older she gets the more likely she will hear stories of this, maybe even witness it herself.  
"But it's not. Why they treat 'em like that? If that how Mexicans are treated they ain't no way a Dominican will be treated better." The tears are streaming down her face now. She doesn't know why, but it really bothers her. She knows the world's not perfect, she knows there is prejudice in the world, she also knows that there's worse out there, but the little things can cut just as deep.  
The store goes quiet for moment, only the quiet hip hop beat is heard. The air is serious. She feels Usnavi's grip tighten and he takes a breath. "Sometimes..." he's trying to find the right words,"people are treated horribly for no good reason --for something they cannot change... So it's up to the rest of us to stand with those people. We must show them kindness and love that this world lacks. The world is a cold place, but love is warm. It's the sizzling sidewalks and crumbling stucco- it's a home to the homeless,to the refugees and foreigners. It's starts something that can't stop, even after we're gone... You got that? Love and kindness."  
"Love and kindness." she sniffles  
"...and patience and faith." He adds.  
"And patience and faith."  
"Yeah, mija."His voice is soft like the smile he wears. He rubs her head, ruffling up her hair, then grabs her cap and switches it with his flat cap, getting a giggle out of her.  
"Ice cold Piragua! China! Mango! Estrawberry! Y Sandía!" The piraguëro passes outside.  
Usnavi turns. "Hey, the piragüero own me a favor, I think it's time to cash it in. What'cha think?"  
"What about the store?"  
"It's only across the street."  
"A good soldier never leaves his-" the door shuts, and he's off crossing the street, "-post... GET ME CHERRY!"  
She uses her sleeve to clean the rest of her tears. Her cheeks are still burning from embarrassment. Sonya reaches over the counter for some Lucas, but stops to check for any sign of Usnavi. Right as she grabs it, the bell rings. She jumps, only to find that it's not Usnavi at all, but some other guy.  
She blinks at him, hoping he didn’t witness her taking the candy. The man's oblivious and grabs a Coke from the fridge. One his way over to the register he grabs some Takis.  
He looks around. "Is Usnavi here?"  
"He just... stepped out, but I can ring you up."  
The guy steps forward and slaps a Lincoln on the counter.  
"umm... so, why are you looking for Usnavi?" Sonya asks.  
"Oh man, you probably don't know. I'm Lalo Ortega." He stretches out his hand.  
"Sonya." She shakes it, "Ortega! So... you're-"  
"Yeah. When Usnavi was too young to take over the store, my pops- well, really it was Abuela. She begged him to keep the store open- so he sent me to watch it until he was ready."  
"Wow, really? Well man thanks! It really means a lot to my cuz."  
"So that explains why you're here. No kid really wants to be working in a bodega all day long."  
"You're telling me."  
"Yeah same. I was my dad's employee for a long time. First at the restaurant then here. At first I didn't want to even take care of this place. But, I don't know, I guess we all got to do our time, before we can get out and do our own thing. As much as I would've hated admitting it, I kinda miss it here."  
"Where you going now?"  
"I'm scheduled to ship off to boot camp soon, just wanted to swing by and see this place one last time, before I go off and do my own thing."  
"And what is your own thing?"  
He freezes, expecting this kid to want the whole story, "I want to make a  
difference, i don't know how, but I just really feel that this is the way to do it. I know it will be hard, but sometimes you gotta change yourself before you change the world, you know?"  
"Yeah I think I might just know what you mean." There's a thoughtful silence. "Here's your change."He laughs, "You can keep it. Thanks for listening to an old man's war stories even before they happen."  
"Well, I think I heard a bit of your two cents anyway. It wouldn’t be fair." She hands him back the coins. Lalo smiles. "You're a good kid. So let me leave you with this," he grabs his bag, "it's never a bad thing sharing that two cents, it can make change." He slips the coins into the take a penny leave a penny tray.  
He turns to leave. "Tell Usnavi to take care of this place. There's something special here." He stops at the door to look back. "It was nice talking to you, Sonny." He exits.  
It's quiet in the store, but the inside of her head is blasting with thoughts. Something with interaction that really struck her and she didn't know what. One thing she could understand from the racing thoughts was she really likes being called Sonny. 'Sonny' was warm. It suited her. It felt like what Usnavi was talking about. It felt like sometime different, but in a good way.  
Usnavi came in the door with two piraguas in his hands; one red, one blue. She stuffed the Lucas she took into her pocket. "He was all out of cherry but I got blue raspberry here. And watermelon for me."  
"That's fine. Thanks." She grabs the paper cone and begins eating it. "Hey when you were gone, Lalo Ortega came by to visit."  
"Really? Lalo, huh? Damn, I missed him. What'd he say?" Usnavi asks, switching back their hats.  
"Just my name," Sonny replied.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to complant about school lunches, because they suck. So I put that in. I really wanted to share some of Sonny's heart (and a pretty good book if anyone is interested [BASED ON TRUE EVENTS]), so I put that in. I really wanted to answer my question who watched the bodega while Usnavi was growing up. So I put that in. I also wanted to add more to the Ortega's who were mentioned in the Opening song, so I put that in. I'm the author of this fic, if you don't like it- either don't read it or sue me.
> 
> For anyone who isn't familiar with these phrases or Brands:  
> Oye- a casual greeting  
> panza- tummy  
> lonche- spanglish for lunch  
> mexicanos- mexicans  
> mija- "my girl". It's a shortening of "mi hija" which literary is short for "my daughter", but it's a term of endearment used by family of friends.  
> china- in the Puerto Rican dialect it means "orange" as in the fruit  
> estrawberry- spanglish for strawberry  
> sadía- watermelon  
> Lucas- a brand of candy  
> Takis- a brand of chips  
> *Lalo Ortega- in the opening Usnavi mentioned the Ortegas. I decided to bring one of them in. Yes, is an OC, don't hate me. They own a Salvadoran restaurant. I felt like since Salvi's are the 5th largest latino group in the US, I'd throw them a bone.
> 
> Warning: I'm of Chicana. If I am adding too many Mexican brands or phrases- PLEASE TELL ME.


End file.
